Naira Falls to N1,537/$1 at Official Market as CBN Blames Speculators

Data showed that the exchange rate of the local currency against the greenback ended at fell to N1,537.80/$1 during the session compared with the previous day’s N1,533.66/$1.

But it closed flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the official market during the session at N1,985.37/£1 and N1,659.12/€1.

In the black market, the Nigerian Naira gained N5 against the US Dollar yesterday to settle at N1,560/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s value of N1,570/$1.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has blamed bad actors like speculators and manipulators for the pressure facing the local currency in the last month after months of relative ease amid broader efforts by the apex bank to align the FX market with market fundamentals.

Meanwhile, the governor of the CBN, Mr Yemi Cardoso in his statement at the February 2025 Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, which was released on Tuesday on the apex bank’s website, stressed the bank’s role in safeguarding the market from practices that threaten price stability and investor confidence.

“We must maintain a heightened level of surveillance in our foreign exchange market and root out any bad actors and practices that threaten the smooth functioning of the market and stability of the exchange rate,” he said.

In the cryptocurrency market, sell-offs occurred after President Donald Trump threatened bigger import tariffs on the European Union (EU) and Canada if they worked together “to do economic harm” to the US.

However, comments from Federal Reserve Chairman, Mr Jerome Powell, indicate that the inflationary pressures resulting from tariffs could be transitory.

Ripple (XRP) fell by 3.4 per cent to $2.36, Solana (SOL) slumped by 3.2 per cent to $138.98, Ethereum (ETH) declined by 1.6 per cent to $2,027.89, and Cardano (ADA) slumped 1.3 per cent to $0.7401.

Further, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 0.7 per cent to $94.00, Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 0.2 per cent to $630.24, and Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 0.1 per cent to $87,520.12, while Dogecoin (DOGE) gained 2.4 per cent to sell at $0.1976, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) trading flat at $1.00 apiece.